The lazy days of summer are here! This week, our Kripalu Recipe is one of our favorite summer dishes—a huge salad that highlights seasonal, fresh-picked fruits and vegetables. Make sure the mango is really ripe so the dressing is sweet and smooth. Alternatively, add slices of mango to the salad and, instead of dressing, drizzle […]

This week’s Kripalu Recipe is a yummy frittata that’s satisfying for any meal of the day. It’s also a great one to make ahead of time—it can be refrigerated and then warmed, or eaten cold with a salad. Makes one 8-inch square pan. 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 1 medium […]

Entirely plant-based and made with whole foods, Kripalu Sun Burgers have an excellent fiber content and a low glycemic index. The carrots and sunflower seeds add a healthy raw-food component. These burgers are also an excellent food for building stronger bones, as they’re high in minerals and trace minerals. Lastly, and perhaps most important, they […]

How important is it to buy and eat organic produce? Does it really matter? According to nutritionist and Kripalu Healthy Living faculty member John Bagnulo, PhD, MPH, when it comes to certain foods, it’s essential. This is an issue I’ve often hemmed and hawed over—and, to be honest, when faced with the choice of cheap, […]

Gluten (the protein found in wheat, rye, and barley) is a common trigger for digestive issues and is often linked to auto-immune conditions. With so many people trying the experiment of eating gluten-free these days—and noticing improvements—alternative ingredients like those in this recipe are now easy to get your hands on. This week’s Kripalu Recipe […]

The Kripalu House Dressing has been a guest favorite for years. Enjoy it over salads or steamed vegetables. Here, John Bagnulo, PhD, MPH, discusses the nutritional benefits of sesame tahini, a star ingredient in the Kripalu House Dressing: Sesame tahini provides an excellent source of copper—a trace mineral critical for the body’s production of its […]

With all the focus on overindulgence—of food and family—we often forget that Thanksgiving is, at heart, a day for giving thanks and being grateful. That said, let’s get back to the food. Some of us choose to “let go,” and eat whatever we want, giving ourselves myriad excuses: It’s tradition, it’s etiquette, it’s just so delicious! But Thanksgiving offers a bounty of ways to enjoy fresh, local vegetables, so while it’s okay to treat yourself, it’s also entirely possible to indulge but not overeat—and, even, put together an optimally nutritious Thanksgiving dinner that sacrifices neither taste nor holiday spirit.

Still, if you can, try to avoid flour and bread products, says John Bagnulo,PhD, MPH, who teaches nutrition in Kripalu’s Healthy Living programs. “This will significantly help reduce the tendency to overeat,” says John. “Grains and flour raise levels of leptin—the hormone that controls appetite and cravings—more than any other food after sugar.” We asked John to share his ideal grain- and cruelty-free Thanksgiving meal.

Every relationship has its milestone moments—the ones that not only change the course of one’s life but also perhaps even more significantly for a chef, change the look of one’s kitchen! Yes, I did it. I made the ultimate sacrifice for love this past weekend as I bade a fond farewell to my beloved six- burner, deep red Bertazonni range (and having total control of my kitchen) and moved in with my fiancée, Jim.

We’d decided on the plan months before, and for the past few weeks I’ve been clearing out the old: organizing and packing up a life lived 16 years in one place. And then came moving day. In a blink of an eye every knife, pot, pan, bowl, spatula, whisk, and tea accoutrement was packed away out of site only to reappear hidden deep inside a box stacked high in the middle of what was to be their new home– at least for some of them. Ah, mergers! Unlike our previous cohabitating experiences with our first spouses when we were each young and less encumbered with stuff, Jim and I faced the daunting equation of adding one home to one home and producing “one” home!